Come sit down with a glass of wine, or cup of tea and see what I have been up to. I love thrifting, sewing, gardening, redecorating and refinishing old furniture and lamps. I do sell someof my items, so if some pretty thing grabs your fancy please ask me; I may be willing to part with it!!

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Revamping an old Wicker Picnic Basket.

A week ago my hubby drove me to Toronto to see the surgeon for followup on my shoulder surgery. My shoulder is coming along wonderfully. I'm hoping to be back to work sometime in August.On the way home we stopped in Cobourg where we know of a fabulous pub, The Cat and the Fiddle, where we can get great fish and chips. On the same street, Covert Street, there are five (count 'em!) 5 thrift stores. Tim dropped me off while he found a parking spot and then went to the pub to get himself a beer. I started at the west end of the street and checked out three of the stores, but didn't find anything. After lunch we went into the last two stores where I found six saucers to match six cups I already had. Tim found the picnic basket (above) and thought that we should buy it. I hmmmmed and hawed for a few seconds and then agreed that it would be fun to fix up a bit.

The first thing I did was to remove the lining and the foam cushioning inside as well as the pieces of very thin plywood that you see which were used on each side of the lid. Next came a bubble bath in cool water with Tide and liquid bleach. I used an old denture brush and scrubbed away at the wicker and removed some grime that had accumulated. Then I rinsed it well in cool water and set it outside to dry in the warm air.

The next day I cut some white prequilted fabric to fit the bottom and sides. I glued it in with my hot glue gun.

I sewed a new lining from some Mary Rose fabric that I had in my stash and then glued it into place also. (see below).

And TaaDaa here is the finished basket below. I have gathered some vintage linen napkins, a small matching table cloth, two vintage luncheon plates, two pink glass tumblers and two sets of silverplated cutlery. I will take pics of the linen etc in the morning so you can see what it all looks like together. I am really pleased with the way it turned out. What do you think of my new shabby rose chic picnic basket??

I love fixing up old stuff!!!

Now that I have figured out that I have to load pics first, then add the text, I will be posting new blogs more frequently. This has been a long learning curve for me!!!LOL!!!Hugs, Laura

2 comments:

This is lovely / I have recently been given a wicker picnic basket that was passed from my nanny to my mom and now to me.

It is in need of some re-vamping repair and cleaning! This is definitely not something I can do my self as i have no idea how to re-wrap or repair wicker. Any thoughts or insights as to have to go about finding a basket weaver that might be able to help me? Google search results were limited..

Me and my mother Christmas 2005

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Little Me Grade 1

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About Me

I am a long time lover of thrifting. My Dad took me to my first country auction sale when I was five. I remember bidding on and buying a rancid red lipstick and a chocolate box full of vintage (this was 1965) rhinestone broaches for 25 cents. BOY! If I had those broaches now!! Actually...I may have them somewhere hiding in a box!!!
I love anything vintage, especially if it has a rose design on it. I collect a bit of everything. My decorating theme is "shabby romantic victorian cottage chic"!!! We live in a Tudor style house nestled in a maple grove.
I am married to my best friend, Tim, for twenty-seven years. We have two wonderful children, Wes and Ali and a 13 year old neurotic poodle-mutt named Honey.
I sew, knit, crochet and like to fix things (lamps!!) and refinish furniture.
I love gardening with perennials and vegetables.